Oh-Bla-Di

A couple of weeks ago, we took advantage of the beautiful weather we were having here in the Vegas valley to take the kiddos on a hike at Red Rock Canyon.  We’ve done quite a bit of hiking at Mt. Charleston to escape the summer heat, but Red Rock is too hot in the summer.  Turns out, that makes it perfect for “winter” in Las Vegas.

So, we loaded up the van with gear, kiddos & the dog and hit the road.  Red Rock is about 45 minutes away from our house, so it’s enough time to enjoy a cup of coffee on the way.  We packed a picnic lunch so that we could stay into nap time if things were going well.

This was Noah’s first outdoor adventure and he had a great time in the backpack.  He loved looking around at everything and didn’t even fall asleep on our trek.  Ava chatted up everyone we met on the trail and loved to lead the way – unless she was too busy stepping on each and every larger-than-her-foot sized rock in the path.

We hiked a trail that was plotted as a kids’ discovery trail so there were neat caves and fairly simple terrain to keep Whoozers feeling both proficient and entertained.  We did take a detour mid-trail to follow another path that led to some waterfalls, though.  They were running under a sheet of ice, and we thought they were worth the extra time and walking.

We ate our picnic lunch on a deck overlooking a stream near the end of the trail.  Is there much that’s better than a peanut butter & jelly sandwich after a nice long walk?

We’ve decided it’s pretty fun to have weekends to ourselves again.  Now that I’m not doing homework, pregnant or taking care of a newborn, we can finally get out and about to enjoy our weekend time a little more.  Maybe those other things were only excuses, but now we’ve got nothing to hold us back!  I’d imagine Red Rock will be seeing a lot more of the Caspers before the temperatures start to climb again!

It seems to me that Ava’s whole life (all three years of it) has been building to this day…the day when she began her formal dance education.  It’s undeniable to the people who know her well, that Whoozers was meant to dance and to perform.  She’s got great rhythm, always has, and loves to dance.  So, when we signed her up and got her all the gear for Christmas, we were fairly certain this first day would go well.  And it did.  She LOVED it.

Ready to go with her dance shoes!

Waiting anxiously for class to start.

The class Ava is signed up for is an hour long – half hour of ballet and a half hour of tap.  Ballet starts with stretching and a quick run through of the five ballet positions.

Then it was time to move across the floor in pairs, working on pirouettes and skipping.

After ballet, it’s time for a quick change of shoes and back in for tap.  During the shoe change, Ava said, “Mommy, this is so fun! (petting my face) It’s just so fun.”

Noah came along for class, too, and really enjoyed it.

We figure that he might as well get used to this, as he’s got lots of dance classes and recitals in his future.  Matt’ll be able to coach him through it, though, as a seasoned big brother of a dancer.

Once tap started, we laughed out loud every time the teacher put her finger to her lips to ask the girls to be quiet during tap.  Eight little girls in tap shoes and quiet?  Never going to happen.  But, we weren’t allowed in the studio, so were saved from the sound by the window between us.  I’d imagine that her ears were fairly ringing by the end of it.

The last ten minutes of class were for the girls just to dance however they felt like it.  They played Freeze Dancing…freezing when the music stopped.  It was pretty crazy in there….they obviously needed to just let all their wiggles out!

At the end of class, Ava came out to take off her shoes and get ready to go home.  She said, “Mommy, that was wonderful.”  I’m pretty sure we’ll be going back next week.

So proud of our girl and so excited for her new adventure!

I think if Noah had words, that’s what he would say.  Our little dude is obsessed with his toes lately.  Every day, when I pick him up from school, his socks or sleeper feet are just soaked because he’s been sucking on them all day.  Sure does make diaper changes interesting…easy to wipe, not so easy to diaper.

Ava didn’t get to her toes until she was about six months old, so this is a bit early, I think.  I’m chalking it up to all the time he’s spent in disposable diapers since it’s much easier to bend at the waist in those.  Ava had to be pretty strong to haul her toes to her nose, so rolled over instead.  I suppose Noah figures, with entertainment like one’s toes, why would one ever learn to roll over?  Can’t reach your toes on your tummy!

Some, especially those folks on my side of the family, like to say that Whoozers is my mini-me.  And, indeed, she does look an awful lot like I did at her age.  But an equal number of folks, coming from the other side of the family, sure see a whole lot of her daddy in her.  I think she got just about equal doses myself.  Ever since I took these photos, though, I can’t help but think that just maybe the scales are tipping a bit to Matt’s influence.  

Whoever she looks like, she’s pretty cute, huh?

I don’t have time for all the posts I owe and have ready, but I do have time to add just this one video of Doozers performing his favorite trick these days.  Raspberries!